"Of course, haven't you read the paper I wrote for my juniors?" Leon asked with a smile.

"Thesis...which one are you referring to?" Ada was confused.

Then she thought about it, shook her head immediately, put her phone into her bag, and continued walking forward:

"Forget it, just take a taxi."

"Haha." Leon looked at Ada's back and chuckled, and pushed the cart again.

Come to the end of the square.

"Hello!! My dear friends!"

Before the two of them could unload their luggage from the cart, a middle-aged man wearing a blue and white checkered navy shirt and at least 1.9 meters tall approached them and spoke loudly with a strong Russian accent.

explain:

"It seems you need help, friends. Do you want to take my airship?"

Hear the words.

Ada hesitated to speak, but Leon stepped forward and said: "Price by meter?"

"Is there any need to ask? My friend! So where is the destination?" the strong man replied with a smile.

“Blue Resort Hotel in District 04…”

"no problem!"

Before Leon could finish speaking, the strong man bent down and lifted the largest and heaviest suitcase on his left shoulder. He picked up another suitcase with his right hand, turned around and walked towards the parking area for service vehicles and airships on the street.

On the sidewalk at the end of the square, all the drivers were using their own methods to ask the passengers who had just stepped out of the airport if they wanted to take a ride.

But few are as strong as a man...

direct.

"Hey, rookie, is this guy reliable?" Ada, who had almost no taxi experience, asked in a low voice.

"Let's go, why bother with so much, my dear wife."

This time it was Leon who joked, and he took down the last two suitcases, pulled out the trolley, and followed the strong man.

"..."

Ada was silent for a few seconds before walking to the brawny man's airship.

The airship still looks like a car as a whole, but it is much larger than an ordinary four-door sedan. The four-wheel position has been replaced with a retractable landing gear. The exterior painting is a classic warm yellow with "TAXI" on the top.

's signage.

However, the exterior painting also has the words "First Airborne!", "Go to hell! Alien bastards!" and other words, as well as the flag of the UNSC First Airborne Division.

Veteran?

After seeing this, Ada couldn't help but respect the strong man, and then she stopped worrying about anything and allowed Leon to obtain information by "taking a taxi".

Put the luggage away and close the trunk.

The strong man opened the "rear door" and said to Ada: "Please."

"Thank you." Ada responded with a smile, then leaned into the back seat of the airship.

But Leon took the initiative to get into the passenger seat without waiting for the strong man to help.

So the strong man helped Ada close the "car door", and the last one entered the airship and prepared to start the engine.

Ada, who was sitting in the back, felt a shaking. She looked out the window and saw that they were gradually getting farther away from the ground.

After rising vertically to a height of about 100 meters above the ground, it merged smoothly into the designated channel, kept a distance from other airships, and flew to the west of the airport together.

Looking out the window at the giant buildings one after another, more than 100 meters tall, and seeing the private airships shuttled through different waterways, Ada had to secretly sigh at the rapid progress of technology.

I think at the beginning, airships were a means of transportation that could only be used by official organizations, and later they became a representative of the rich.

Nowadays, it has become a product that ordinary families can afford if they dare to spend a lot of money.

She looked down.

It was found that there are still many vehicles on the ground, and sky train tracks are also spread above the streets, providing people with a variety of travel options.

"Two friends!" The strong man said to the two of them: "This is your first time coming to Arcadia!"

"Yes." Leon immediately took over: "My wife and I heard that the environment here is very good and it is very suitable for honeymoon, so we came."

"Oh? They are a newlywed couple. Bless you! Remember not to quarrel or be impulsive, otherwise you will regret it." The strong man advised as if he had experienced it.

"Thank you for the reminder, uncle, we will pay attention." Ada expressed her gratitude with a smile.

"Uncle? I'm dissatisfied with you two. I'm seventy now, haha!" The strong man laughed.

"Seventy?" Leon said, pretending to be surprised, "But you look like you are only forty years old, and judging from the things posted on your boat, could it be that you were once a member of the UNSC?"

Upon hearing Leon's inquiry, the strong man suddenly straightened his back, and the volume of his voice increased slightly:

"Major of the UNSC 1st Airborne Division, Andrei Alexevich Ivanovsky provides services to both of you. Of course, this is all in the past tense. You can just call me Andrei.

.”

"First Airborne Division?!" Leon was even more shocked: "Then you should have participated in the battle in Elizabeth City."

"Little brother, you guessed it right! I'm telling you..." Andre talked to Leon like he was opening up a conversation.

Ada, who was sitting in the back, kept smiling, and would occasionally say "um" or "oh? Really", trying her best to match Leon's clichés.

According to the content of the conversation.

She learned that Andre, who was once a major, had actually participated in the battle to eliminate the colonists, and had also received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart Medal from the UNSC. He was a combat hero.

After retiring in 2027, he chose to move to Arcadia with his family.

Out of boredom, he bought an airship in 2035 and worked as a taxi driver to pass the time.

Leon didn't need to ask specifically about his age, Ada also knew why Andre was still strong.

As a secret affiliate of Umbrella, the UNSC always possesses certain technologies, such as nanomedicine, ahead of the general public.

Among the causes of human aging, cell senescence, organ failure and metabolic slowdown account for the main components.

The nanorobots developed by Ziegler Cage and William Birken can effectively delay this aging rate.

Although it requires regular injections, the effect is far inferior to the delaying medicine developed by Xuemanhua, but it is worse than the possibility of mass production.

After more than ten years of improvement, the nanotechnology originally used by the UNSC and Umbrella General Hospital has long been popularized in mass society.

For people who buy Umbrella insurance, cancer is no different than getting a bad cold, and they get a free injection of nanobots once a year.

In fact, people can also pay to purchase additional injections of nanorobots.

Although the price is high, equivalent to half the annual income of an average family, the number of injections sold is still considerable.

Andre should have started injecting nanomedicine when he was serving in the UNSC.

Even if he retires, a combat hero who can afford an airship in 2035 can also afford additional injections.

That's why he is actually seventy years old, but looks like a forty-year-old man.

Seeing that Andre wanted to tell them about their relationship history, Leon cut to the chase at the right time and said: "Major, I heard that there have been some frequent disappearances in Arcadia recently. Will this affect our couple's honeymoon?"

"They say just call me Andre, boy Lyon." Andre held the steering wheel with his left hand, freed up his right hand and patted Lyon's left shoulder heavily, then put away his chatting attitude and said in a slightly serious tone:

"Considering to maintain the image of the colony, the company does not allow us drivers to discuss recent cases with passengers, but I am too lazy to care about that.

As far as I know, there seems to be something in the underground sewage system in the urban area."

"Something?" Leon and Ada said in unison.

"Yeah." Andre nodded and continued: "I don't know exactly what it is, but Area 04, where you and your wife are going, is the area with the most frequent disappearances.

For your safety, it is best to stay in the hotel at night and go to the beach or other attractions during the day."

After hearing Andre's kind reminder, Leon, who was rubbing his left shoulder with his right hand, said sincerely:

"Thank you, Major, we will pay attention."

"Thank you." Ada also echoed.

"Hey, what is this..." Andre shook his right hand, opened the storage box between the driver and passenger, took out an ultra-thin business card from it, handed it to Leon and said:

"Contact me if you encounter any situation. After all, I have some influence in this area."

Leon, who has decades of taxi-hailing experience, has rarely encountered such an enthusiastic driver as the major. He took the business card, put it away, and expressed his thanks again to Ada.

at this time.

The holographic billboard with "Blue Resort Hotel" written on it gradually came into view as the airship turned left.

Lyon and Ada's destination, a 100-meter-tall hotel, is located on the right side of the street, next to other buildings of similar height.

See this.

Andre controlled the airship to leave the channel to the right, slow down its flight speed, and finally landed in the air parking area specially built for the airship that protruded from the center of the hotel.

Lower the landing gear and stop.
To be continued...